[statecom] PLEASE READ: New Tack + Steps Taken (quorum, etc.) SC Virtual Meeting

[Wanda Boeke]

To the State Committee:
 
While I (Wanda Boeke, Berkshire County) am not presuming to be a
facilitator, I would ask everyone, and particularly current facilitator
Jamie O¹Keefe, to please consider the following steps.  This ends in
CONCLUSIONS at bottom, if you want to skip ahead.
 
Voting has been given 1 hour today (between 3 PM and 4 PM). This is too
short to alleviate the accumulated frustration and runs against our desire
for inclusion, accessibility, transparency, etc.
 
Please review the following - despite a pressured vote going on - in hopes
of establishing a basis for moving forward in case voting doesn¹t work out.
 
Jamie O., please slow down for a moment - I spent hours pulling all the info
below together (thanks!):
 
1) Let¹s consider this virtual online meeting to be a head start on the June
29 in-person meeting. The same issues and activities will be before the SC
then anyway.
 
2) Let¹s avoid the inevitable and ultimate result of disunity:  a
no-confidence situation where no delegation is officially sent to GPUS
convention, but where various dissenters of different stripes go to GPUS
convention, get credentialed as per floor rules, and claim to represent GRP
and its DSP (Delegate Selection Plan); GRP is in shambles, perhaps
irrevocably damaged.
 
3) Let us consider all reference to ³blocking concerns,² ³will not stand
aside,² ³grave concerns² and other descriptive words before ³concerns² to be
stricken from the record, whether in outgoing ballot instructions or in
return ballots. Authors at the same time agree that there are simply
concerns (as yet unaddressed or unresolved).
 
4) Let us start, during the Virtual Meeting, by accepting that the
credentialing of the 23 people seated at the April 12 SC meeting and the 4
in absentia has been properly taken care of (Jamie O¹Keefe as per 6/20
taking care of credentialing and 6/23/08 sending of consensus ballot),
 
4)(a)  and accept the following initially seated 17 as reps - who also
attended (in alpha order by district - Proportional Representative numbers
taken from last SC 2006-2008 session as I couldn¹t find latest numbers, so
please correct if necessary)
 
Dan Melnechuk (Middlesex)
Merelice (Norfolk)
**********
Nat Fortune (Franklin) 3 PR,
Rick Purcell (Hampden) 3 PR,
Larry Ely (Hampshire) 6 PR,
Vladimir Morales (Hampshire),
Martina Robinson (Hampshire),
John Andrews (Middlesex) 16 PR,
Eli Beckerman (Middlesex),
Elie Yarden (Middlesex),
Lawrence Fine (Norfolk), 3 PR
Jim Hammerman (Norfolk),
Sheila Wood (Norfolk),
Mike Heichman (Suffolk) 9 PR,
Gary Hicks (Suffolk),
Ralph Walton (Suffolk),
 
Donna Rains (Norfolk) (attended) - later email resignation acknowledged by
co-chair (Merelice)]
 
as appointed as State Committee representatives by consensus of April 12;
 
4)(b) Let us accept the 9 additional reps (5 seated at meeting) presented to
the April 12 SC meeting (alpha by district)
 
Nancy Lee Wood (Bristol) (attended, arriving after meeting started) 3 PR,
David Dionne (Bristol) (attended, arriving after meeting started),
Mary Ahorn-Hyatt (Middlesex) 16 PR,
Jamie O¹Keefe (Middlesex),
Jill Stein (Middlesex),
Ken Selcer (Middlesex),
Steve Baer (Worcester) (attended, arriving after meeting started) 5 PR,
Grace Ross (Worcester) (attended, arriving after meeting started),
Karen Sargent (Worcester) (attended, arriving after meeting started),
 
appointed as State Committee representatives by consensus of April 12;
 
for a total of 26 reps - minus Donna Rains, who resigned - for a total of 25
reps now;
 
4)(c) Let us accept the 6 new alternate reps presented (one seated, 5 in
absentia) to the April 12 SC meeting (minus the three in brackets) (alpha by
district)
 
Joe Carvalho (Bristol),
[Jakob Weglarczyk (Bristol), - Dan later found him unregistered, not a dues
payer]
Tom Flittie (Hampshire),  (attended, arriving after meeting started)
Steve Randall (Hampshire),
Luc Schuster (Middlesex ­ accepts as alternate 6/18),
Peter Ames (Norfolk),
Arthur Conquest (Norfolk),
[Rich Zitola (Worcester) - Dan later found him registered G]
[Samantha Zitola (Worcester) - Dan later found her registered G]
 
appointed as State Committee alternates by consensus of the April 12
meeting;
 
for a total of 6 alternate reps.
 
5) Let us accept the following Proportional Representation seats, as working
toward the goal of F/M gender diversity (to start):
 
Bristol 3 PR seats:  1 F, 1 M seated (1 vacancy); 1 M alternate
Hampden 3 PR seats:  1 M seated (2 vacancies)
Hampshire 6 PR:  1 F, 2 M seated (3 vacancies); 2 M alternates
Middlesex 16 PR:  2 F, 6 M seated (8 vacancies); 1 M alternate
*Norfolk 3 PR:  1 F + 1F co-chair, 2 M seated (0 vacancies); 2 M alternates
Suffolk 9 PR:  0 F, 3 M seated (6 vacancies); 0 alternates
Worcester 5 PR: 2 F, 1 M seated (2 vacancies); 0 alternates
 
(The issue of additional PR reps to the SC (Proposal #1) will be addressed
later.)
(The issue of Diversity reps also addressed later.)
 
*We will have to address Norfolk¹s apparent ³overseating.²
 
6) Let us accept that the notion of quorum will start with those 25 SC PR
reps. In the 50% + 1 (rounded down) formula, this means 13 reps = quorum (25
/ 2 = 12.5; 12.5 +1 = 13.5; rounded down = 13).
 
7) Let us accept that 13 members (a quorum) weighed in on the consensus
ballot questions:
Nat Fortune
Jim Hammerman
Mike Heichman
Gary Hicks
Karen Sargent
Grace Ross
John Andrews
Eli Yarden
Larry Ely
Lawrence Fine
Ken Selcer
Eli Beckerman
Joe Carvalho - abstention (?) (states he has no time to weigh in, but
contributes this message of non-participation)
 
8) Let us accept 2 Berkshire alternates (Berkshire 2 PR: 1F, 1 M = Wanda
Boeke & Jamie Cooney) as reps for this meeting (there being 3 additional M
alternate reps) as per Berkshire regional convention; names submitted to Dan
M., Jamie O., and Secretary Ely after convention & before April 12 meeting,
but somehow overlooked in the presentation of alternate reps), and now duly
recognized through facilitator Jamie O. (and having been previously
credentialed) who weighed in on consensus ballot. Wanda and Jamie will be
considered alternates for a quorum count because they were not presented to
the April 12 meeting.
 
9) Let us accept that alternates do not go into quorum count (as per
Standing Rules)
 
So far so good.
 
CONCLUSIONS 
- If we can accept the above 9 points:
A) We currently have a quorum of 13 (of 25) credentialed SC representatives
weighing in during the Virtual Special Meeting ³head-start² portion of the
Combined Virtual and In-Person SC Meeting
B) We have concerns regarding process (some addressed above)
C) We have concerns regarding content of ³Proposals #1 & #2² some of which
have been addressed above.
D) The next step is to work on other/remaining concerns re ³Proposals #1 &
#2. (I¹m working on a harmonization of that in view of a Combined SC Meeting
for next email.)
 
Respectfully,
 
Wanda Boeke
Berkshire County